Services of Holy Week and Pascha

Item No. 006786

Third edition

by Fr. Joseph Rahal; edited by Fr. John Winfrey

The text includes complete services, with rubrics and helpful instructions, for every service, including the three Bridegroom services, the three Liturgies of the Presanctified Gifts; the service of Holy Unction; the Vesperal Liturgy and 12 Passion Gospels of Holy Thursday; the Royal Hours, Vespers, and Lamentations of Holy Friday; the Vesperal Liturgy of Holy Saturday morning; Great and Holy Pascha; and the Agape Vespers of Sunday afternoon. The translations are taken from the Liturgikon, the Service Book of the Antiochian Archdiocese, and the Psalter According to the Seventy. The texts of the hymns are taken from the widely-used Kazan Byzantine music books. The English is the traditional semi-Elizabethan style beloved in many parishes. Services are in sequence in the order they are performed:no flipping around needed.

Thorough rubrics are printed in red. The pages have ornamental borders and are adorned with icons in classic Orthodox styling. The sewn binding lies flat and has ribbon markers in black and red. Both front and back covers include an ornamental Orthodox cross in gold, and the page edges are likewise gilded.

In a word, the most beautiful and usable Orthodox Holy Week Service Book we have seen in English, and a major improvement over the first edition. This second edition is half the thickness of the first and considerably lighter in weight, even though it has 343 additional pages, thanks to the high-quality thin Bible paper which was used. The print is far clearer, and the page layouts make it much easier for the eye to follow. It includes thorough rubrics in red. The pages have ornamental borders and are adorned with icons in classic Orthodox styling. The sewn binding lies flat and has ribbon markers in black and red. Both front and back covers sport a gorgeous ornamental Orthodox cross in gold, and the page edges are likewise gilded. The tough and luxurious black cover material is ideal for embossing names in gold, thus increasing its appeal for gift-giving to both clergy and laity. The text includes complete services, with rubrics and helpful instructions, for every service (all 19 of them) of Holy Week and Pascha. Includes the three Bridegroom services, the three Liturgies of the Presanctified Gifts; the service of Holy Unction; the Vesperal Liturgy and 12 Passion Gospels of Holy Thursday; the Royal Hours, Vespers, and Lamentations of Holy Friday; the Vesperal Liturgy of Holy Saturday morning; Great and Holy Pascha; and the Agape Vespers of Sunday afternoon. The translations are taken from the Liturgikon, the Service Book of the Antiochian Archdiocese, and the Psalter According to the Seventy. The texts of the hymns are taken from the widely used Kazan Byzantine music books. The English is the traditional semi-Elizabethan style beloved in many parishes. Services are in sequence in the order they are performed: no flipping around needed. Our hat is off to Archpriest John Winfrey and Antakya Press. We predict that libraries, scholars, and all Christians who study and love the prayers and hymns of the ancient Church will welcome this volume.

-Randall Mark Trainer

This third edition (the most current) has slightly fewer pages than the second edition, as the book was reset in a different font which is more economical in its use of pages, but is slightly thicker than the second edition because a slightly heavier weight paper was used. The substance of the book remains the same in content. Some typographical errors were corrected, throughout the book, most notably, the foreign texts of various gospels for the Agape Vespers service were corrected. Libraries, scholars, and all Christians who study and love the prayers and hymns of the ancient Church will welcome this volume.

Author / Editor: Fr. Joseph Rahal; edited by Fr. John Winfrey

Hardcover: 812 pages

Dimensions: 6.5 X 9.5 inches